FU9 



«33jnos3H iiO!iBAjasuo3 



869 

S3 U57 loNGRESs, I SENATE. j Document 



. Session. \ i No. 405. 

3py 1 • 

EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, 

ETC. 



MESSAGE 

FROM THE 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

TRANSMITTING 

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE NAVY DEPARTMENT AND THE 
WAR DEPARTMENT IN REFERENCE TO COMMUNICATIONS FROM 
MAYOR SCHMITZ, OF SAN FRANCISCO, AND FROM OTHER REP- 
RESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA. 



April 25, 1906. — Read; referred to the Committees on Naval Affairs, Military Affairs, 
and Public Buildings and Grounds, and ordered to be printed. 



To the Senate and House of Reiwesentatives : 

I herewith inclose communications from the Navy Department and 
the War Department in reference to communications from Mayor 
Schmitz, of San Francisco, and from other representatives of Cali- 
fornia. With a courage and self-reliance of which we can not as 
Americans be sufficiently proud, the people of San Francisco have 
already started in orderly and resolute fashion to rebuild the city. 
Immediate aid in this enterprise should be given by the Federal Gov- 
ernment. One of the crj'ing- needs of the situation is employment for 
the scores of thousands of men who have lost everything. If the 
appropriation of $300,000 for the Mare Island Navy-Yard be at once 
passed, over 2,000 men will immediately be put to work, for this 
appropriation will be expended only in emplo3'ing labor. The appro- 
priation is urgently needed as a means of contributing toward the 
reestablishment of affairs in San Francisco; it will also be of material 
use to the Navy. 

Furthermore, I recommend that the Congress act on the recommen- 
dations of the War Department and appropriate the money necessary 
to establish a building as a general supply and storage depot for the 
supply departments of the Army and transport service on a part of 
the military reservation of Fort Mason. This project is set forth in 
Senate bill 4475 of the present session. 



2 EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, ETC. 

I have requested the Treasury and Post-Office Departments to pre- 
pare their estimates for replacing or repairing* the other Government 
buildings in San Francisco. These estimates will be ready in a short 
while *and will then be laid before you. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

The ^VHITE House, Ajn^il £5, 1906. 



War Department, 

Wa.shington, April ^^, 1906. 
The President: 

Replying to 3-our letter of 23d instant directing that a report be 
made regarding the buildings required for the War Department in 
San Francisco, I have the honor to invite 3^our attention to the 
inclosed memorandum from the Quartermaster-General relative to the 
establishment of a general siipph' and storage depot for supply depart- 
ments of the army and the transport service on a part of the militaiy 
reservation of Fort Mason, Cal. This project is set forth in Senate 
bill 4475 of the present session, upon which, in response to call there- 
for, the Department, on February 21 last, submitted to the chairman 
of the Committee on MilitaiT Affairs, United States Senate, reports 
from the Quartermaster-General, the Judge- Advocate-General, and 
the Chief of Staff. 

The subject of establishing a general supply depot in San Francisco 
to cover all branches of the army service was tirst taken up in 11*0.3 and 
has since been verv fully investigated and considered by the bureaus 
concerned, and particuhirly by the quartermaster's department. The 
memorandum herewith from the Quartermaster-Cieneral is a resume 
of the sul)ject, from which it will be seen that the Department owned 
no buildings in the city of San Francisco, but occupied rented accom- 
modations at a total annual expenditure of $76,550. As the Quarter- 
master-(ieneral very pertinently remarks, this project, which was 
originally presented on its merits in the interests of good administra- 
tion and a saving of time and expense for rentals and euiploj^ees, has 
now assumed a character of indispensable and impei'ative necessity for 
the military service on the Pacific coast, Hawaii, and the Philippine 
Islands. 

The amount called for has been increased from $1,350,000 to 
$1,500,000, and the amount to be innnediatelv available from $500,000 
to $750,000, in view of the necessitj- of adopting a stronger, more 
durable, and permanent system of construction than the type originally 
considered. The construction of this depot will afford ample and 
modern provision for all the supply departments of the Army and 
result in an annual saving in rent of at least $60,000, leaving as the 
only branches of the service unprovided for the division and dei)art- 
ment liead(juarters, which are reciuired l)y convenience to be located 
within the city; and the engineer ollices, which, as stated by the Chief 
of Kngineers in his accom])anying letter, will be acconuuodated either 
through renting private quarters, or perhaps in securing quarters in 
the proposed new custom-house. 

The War Depaitment does not own an}- public buildings at Sacra- 
mento, San rJose, and Oakland. 

Very respectfully, Robert Shaw Oliver, 

Acting Secretary of IH//'. 



EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, ETC. 6 

[Inclosures.] 

War Department, 
Office of the Chief of Engineers, 

W'asJiington, April 23, 1906. 
The honorable the Secretary of War. 

Sir: 1. I have the honor to aL>kno\vledge the receipt of a copy of a letter of the 
President relating to estimates for public buildings in San Francisco. 

2. It is not thought that the engineer department of the Army is involved in the 
matter, however. Heretofore two ottices have been maintained in rented buildings 
in San Francisco in connection with river and harbor and fortitiration work. The 
office buildings occupied have been destroyed, and new provision must be made, 
but this will be accomplished through renting private quarters or, perhaps in the 
future, securing quarters in the proposed new custom-house. 

3. Two companies of engineer troops are quartered at Fort Mason, but it is believed 
that no damage of a serious character has occurred there, and that the repairs of these 
garrison buildings would, in any event, be made by the (Quartermaster's Department, 
and would be covered by estimates submitted by the Quartermaster-General under 
the terms of the President's letter of April 23, 1906. 

Very respectfully, A. Mackenzie, 

Brigadier-General, Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army. 



War Department, 
Office of the Surgeon-General, 

Washington, Apr^il 23, 1906. 

memorandum for the information of the secretary of war. 

The Se*i-etary of the Treasury, under date of January 29, 190(5, in connection with 
H. R. lOB^, for the erection of a building for the use of such Government officials 
as may no|kbe occupying rented quarters at San Francisco, requested to l)e advised 
as to the splkce at present occupied by officials of the War Department in rented 
quarters. 

Under date of February 5, 1906, the chief surgeon. Department of California, 
reported to this officer that he would require for his office (3 rooms) 952 square feet 
floor space; for the attending surgeon's office (3 rooms) 1,008 square feet, and the 
officer in charge of medical supply depot would require 47,000 square feet in the 
event of a Government building being erected in San Francisco. 

This represents the space that has been occupied in San Francisco by the medical 
department. The offices of the chief surgeon and attending surgeon were in the 
portion of the Phelan Building occupied by Headquarters Department of California, 
and this office does not know what would be its proper proportion of the rental paid. 
The annual rent of the medical supply depot on Mission street was $18,000 per 
annum. 

R. M. O'Reilly, 
Surgeon-General, U. 6'. Army. 



War Department, 

Office of the Commissary-General, 

]Vaslii7ig(on, April 23, 1906. 

memorandum for the secretary op war in re senate bill no. 4475, introduced 
in the senate february 15, 1906, by senator perkins. 

Regarding construction at Fort Mason, Cal., of wharf, storehonse, and quarters for 
occupancy in lieu of the various buildings rented in San Francisco, in an inspection 
of the station of San Franeisco made August 30 and 31 and September 1, 1905, the 
inspector. Colonel Chamberlain, under date of October 3, 1905, states: 

"The present annual rental paid for offices, wharfage, and storage in San Francisco, 
for the quartermaster's depot, the transport service, the subsistence dejiot, and medi- 
cal supply depot amounts to $49,400.04, exclusive of $2,592 paid for commutation of 
quarters for the officers on duty in connection with the said depots. That the amount 
so expended will diminish is very improbable. On the contrary, an increase is 
probable. 



4 EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAYY-YARD, ETC. 

"In the interest of convenience and economy it is recommended that a wharf, 
suitable office building, storehouses, and quarters for the depot officers be constructed 
at Fort Mason. A suitable site, owned by the Government, is, I believe, available." 

That paper was referred to this office, and the depot commissary in San Francisco, 
under date of November 23, 1905, reported as follows: 

"Referring to your letter (173223) of the 14th instant, I have the honor to report 
as follows for your information: 

"The Government pays $4,800 rental, per annum, for the premises 46 Spear street, 
occupied in part by this depot. One-fourth of the building is used by the Quarter- 
master's Department, wliich makes the cost of the space assigned to the Subsistence 
Department, $3,600 per annum. 

" Subsistence stores for posts in the United States, except large lots, are assembled 
at the warehouse and prepared for shipment. Large lots of stores are delivered by 
the sellers direct to the railroad or steamers. 

"Stores for use of transports are delivered direct to the transports. AVjout 
24,000,000 pounds of subsistence supplies purchased and shipped to the Philippines 
each year, are delivered to the transports by the sellers, saving thereby to the Gov- 
ernment, the cost of handling, storage, and drayage. 

"So far as the Subsistence Department is concerned, there would be no economy 
in constructing a wharf and erecting an office building, storehouse, and quarters at 
Fort Mason." 

The Quartermaster-General, under date of November 6, 1905, stated: "This 
scheme of transfer of the San Francisco depot to Fort Mason w-as submitted by this 
Office to the Secretary of War with detailed estimates for buildings, roads, walks, 
wharves, etc., amounting to $1,256,280, December 10, 1903. This included' all the 
supply departments of the Army and the transport service." 

On January 29, 1906, the Secretary of the Treasury wrote to the Secretary of War, 
referring to House bill No. 10117 for the erection of a building for the use of Gov- 
ernment officials now occupying rented quarters at San Francisco, inciuiring with 
regard to space at present occupied by officials in the War Department in rented 
quarters in the city of San Francisco, and the amount required to meet present and 
prospective needs, to which this Office replied as follows: 

"Referring to letter dated January 29, 1906, from the Secretary of the Treasury, 
relative to amount of space required by \^'ar Department in proposed building in 
San Francisco for use of such Government officials as may now be occupying rented 
quarters there, which was referred by you to thi< office for report, I have the honor 
to state that the chief commissary of the Department of California will require three 
rooms, only two rooms being allotted now for his needs, and the depot and ])ur- 
chasing commissary will require 36,800 square feet of space for office, storage, and 
shipjjing facilities, while the present space occupied for this purpose is 18,420 square 
feet. The increase is necessary to meet prospective needs and to provide for emer- 
gencies." 

From the foregoing it appears that the matter has been thoroughly considered and 
that detailed estimates have been submitted. As Senate bill No. 4475 appropriates 
an amount just about equal to the estimate of the Quartermaster-General, it is rec- 
ommended that the same be returned to Congress urging favorable consideration. 
It is necessary that some provision should be promptly made to ])roperly house the 
subsistence department in San Francisco, so as to provide for the i)ro])er supply of 
the transports and the forv\arding of supplies to the troops in the Philipjtine Islands. 

Henky G. Sharpe, 
Commissary- General. 



War DEPAHTiMKNT, 

Opkice of tuk Qi'artkrmaster-Gener.^^l, 

WasliiiKjloii, April 23, 1906. 

MEMt)RAN]nM RELATIVE TO ESTABLISHMENT OK A GE.VERAL SUPPLY AND STORACiE DEPOT 
FOR SUPPLY DEPART.MENTS OF THE ARMY AND THE TRANSPORT SERVICE, ON A PART 
OF THE MILITARY RRSERVATION OF FORT MASON, CAL. 

The jiroject contemjjlates the construction of the necessary buildings, wharves, 
roads, walks, tramways, water supply, .wewerage, and lighting and power plants on 
public land constituting a part of the military reservation. Fort Mason, Cal., locally 
known as Black Point. 

The purpose is to do away witli all the buildings and jiremises now rented at very 
high annual rentals in the city of San Francisco, Cal., and concentrate at one place 



EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, ETC. 5 

all the facilities needed for the administration and operation of the quartermasters 
and other supply departments of the Army, and the transport service, in connection 
with the military service at San Francisco and posts in its vicinity and in the 
Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines, in so far as said operations can be conducted 
to advantage at tliat port. 

As outlined in plans originally prepared in December, 1903, the project contem- 
plated construction of; 

A general office building for the administrative and clerical work of all the differ- 
ent supply departments of the Army. 

Three storehouses for clothing, ec[uipage, and other quartermaster supplies. 

One storehouse for the subsistence department. 

One storehouse for the medical department. 

One general packing house. 

One general repair shop. 

Stables, corrals, and sheds for wheel transportation. 

Power house with machinery for furnishing light, power for elevators, etc. 

One storehouse for the transport service. 

Construction of wharves and necessary dredging for accommodation of at least 
four ships of the size of the largest army transports. 

Preparing ground for building sites, construction of roads, walks, drainage, sew- 
erage, water supply, etc. 

Five sets of quarters for officers of the supply departments whose services would 
be required at this depot. 

The estimated cost of the entire project was $1,256,250. 

This did not, however, cover any expenditures for purchase of additional land, 
but recent developments indicate that it will be necessary to acquire by purchase or 
condemnation the rights of certain private owners to a part of the land which would 
be needed for wharves and slips for the transport service, and it was estimated that 
the aggregate sum needed to carry out the project as originally laid out should be 
increased to $1,350,000. 

The plans as heretofore considered had in view construction of brick buildings 
with stone or concrete foundations, but with the ordinary wooden floors and wood 
frame for roofing. More recent observation and experience indicate that, although 
first cost would be increased, it will be far preferable to adopt a stronger and more 
durable and permanent system of construction, having in view the use of stone, 
brick, and concrete masonry, with steel frames, trusses, etc. This, together with 
enhanced cost of material and skilled labor incident to the great demands that will 
be made upon all sources of supply on accountof the reconstruction of the city of San 
Francisco, will require a greater sum than that above given to complete the project 
as a whole, and it is therefore recommended that the total amount be increased to 
$1,500,000, and that the amount to be immediately available be increased to $750,000. 

The destruction of nearly every facility heretofore used in connection with the 
supply departments and the transport service in San Francisco renders it imperative 
that work on a larger scale than first contemplated be commenced at once. 

In a memorandum on this subject prepared by this office January 17, 1906, it was 
.stated : 

"Carrying out this project would place the military establishment in San Francisco 
in possession of a system of terminal facilities by land and water which can not be 
surpassed and bring under the direct supervision of the responsible officers the opera- 
tions of the transport service and the several supply departments which are neces- 
sarily related and dependent upon each for prompt and efficient service. 

"The necessity for an establishment of this kind in San Francisco in December, 
1903, when the report was submitted, is much greater to-day than it was then. Not 
only are rents rising all over the city, but it has been found imjiracticable to secure 
at any reasonal>le cost accommodations required for convenient and expeditious 
transaction of operations of tlie su{)ply departments and owners of premises now held 
under lease have made it known in several instances that leases would not be 
renewed. 

" With facilities for the ordinary routine oi)erationsof the military service cramped, 
expensive, inconvenient, and inade(|uate during a period of profound peace, it can 
be readily foreseen what would 1)e the result if emergencies should arise rendering 
necessary greater activities in the transport service and the supply departments at 
this impc)rtant port." 

At this time it is known that with the exception of the rented wharf from which 
army transports sail, no facililies for storage of suj)plies and conducting the ordinary 
operations of the supply departments of the Army can be obtaineil in San Francisco, 
and a project which was originally presented on its merits, in the interests of good 



6 EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, ETC. 

adminigtration and a saving of time and expense for rentals and employees, has now 
assumed the character of indispensalile and imperative necessity for the military 
service on the Pacific coast, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands. 

Even if the wharf used by army transports in San Francisco is saved — of which 
there is at this time no positive information at hand — its relinquishment by the 
Army would be a great relief to the commercial shipping interests of the city. 

A list of premises rented and amount of rentals in the city of San Francisco, Cal., 
for the various uses of the militar}' services, also copy of report of the Judge- Advocate- 
General of the Army in respect to the sul)ject of adverse claims to a part of the 
water-front lands at Fort Mason, Cal., and remarks of this office by indorsement of 
February 19, 1906, on the same subject, are inclosed. 

C. F. Humphrey, 
Quartermaster-General, C S. Army. 



Wak Departme.vt, 
Office of the Quartermaster-Cjeneral, 

Washington, April 28, 1906. 

list of BUILDIN'GS and properties rented for use of the VARIOrS BRANCHES OP 
the MILITARY SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 

Monthly 
For the armv transport service: rental. 

* One wharf, Folsom street $}, 500. 00 

For harbor- boat service: 

* One wharf, Washington street, steamer McDowell 120. 00 

* One wharf, Washington street, steamer MitHhi 120. 00 

For quartermaster's depot and storage: 

* One building, Montgomery street 666. 67 

* One building, Folsom and Spear streets 425. 00 

* One stable. Pine street 75. 00 

For medical department: 

* One building. Mission street, storage and supply 1 , 500. 00 

For subsistence department: 

* One building. Spear street 400. 00 

For administrative offices: 

Eighth floor, Grant Building, headquarters Division of the Pacific 332,50 

Fourth floor, Phelan Building, headquarters Department of California. 900. 00 

Three rooms, Rialto Building, recruiting service 100. 00 

* Commutation of (juarters for five officers of the supply departments of 

field officers rank would be 240. 00 

Total monthly rental 6, 379. 17 

Total per year 76, 550. 00 

The items marked thus * in foregoing list pertain directly to the operation of the 
transport and harbor service and supply departments of the Army, and aggregate — 

Per month §5, 046. 67 

Per year 60, 560. 04 

The above amount, aggregating $60,560.04 per year on the basis of prices hereto- 
fore paid, would be saved on rentals alone when the buildings and improvements 
contemplated are available for use. 

C. F. Hl'MPHREYS, 

Quartermaster-General, U. S. Army. 



War Department, 
Office of the Judge- Advocate-General, 

Washingtnn, 1). C, February 12, 1906. 
Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 

This is a proposition to establish a general supply depot on a portion of the Fort 
Mason Military Reservation at San Francisco, Cal. Senator Perkins desires that a bill 
for the purpose al)ove stated be drafted by the Department with a view to its intro- 
duction in the Senate. 



EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAVY-YARD, ETC. 7 

Drafts of two bills are sulimitted herewith: One carrying an appropriation of 
$1,350,000, such appropriation to be made outright, and another authorizing the 
establishment of the depot in the operation of a contract system, like that now applied 
to the construction of works of river and harbor improvement, in which the legis- 
lative authority is given to contract for the entire improvement, with an appropria- 
tion of a sutHcient sum to enable the work to be carried on for the next fiscal year, 
and the usual proviso that later payments are to be made in pursuance of specific 
appropriations of Congress. 

The submerged lands in front of the Fort Mason reservation are now held in pri- 
vate ownership, and such parcels as' are necessary for the construction of wharves 
will have to be obtained by a resort to condemnation proceedings. These are pro- 
vided for in the bill. The question of the submerged lands was fully discussed in a 
report rendered by this ottice on the 10th instant on an offer submitted by William 
B. Sharp, attornev for the owners, to sell such submerged lands to the United States 
for $400,000. 

It was recommended by this office, for reasons stated, that Attorney Sharp's offer 
be declined, jf a resort be had to condemnation proceedings, it is probable, in view 
of the easements imposed on such lands in the Constitution, tliat they will be 
acquired at a cost of from $50,000 to $100,000. The Quartermaster-General estimates 
the cost of the improvements at $1,256,250; to this sum about $94,000 has been added, 
in the draft of the bills, to cover the cost of the submerged lands. 

(tEO. B. D.wis, 
Judge- A drocate General. 



War Department, 
Office of the Quartermaster-General, 

Washington, Februarg 19, 1906. 

Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War. 

The accompanying bill, S. 4475, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session, is in accordance 
with recommendation made by the Chief of Staff February 13, 1906. It embodies 
the appropriation that was asked for by this Office for improvements at Fort Mason, 
these being contained in papers forwarded to the Secretary of War Deceml)er 10, 
1903, containing a full report of all that relates t(j that part of the subject, together 
with the cost of submerged lands estimated by the Judge Advocate-General in the 
total sum of $1,350,000. " Of this the estimate "for the submerged lands amounts to 
$94,000. 

It appears from the Judge Advocate-General's indorsement of February 12, 1906, 
herewith, submitting drafts (jf the bill, that the question of the submerged lands was 
discussed by him in a report rendered to the Secretary of War on the lOth instant on 
the subject "of an offer made by William B. Sharp, attorney for the owners, to sell 
such submerged land to the United States for $400,000. The recommendation of 
this Office concerning this offer was that no action be taken favorable to its acceptance 
on account of the difficulty in determining title. 

This question of title is,"according to the estimate of the Judge-Advocate-General, 
one that could reasonably be expected to be justly settled for $94,000, and this, as 
stated above, is included in the appropriation of $1,350,000. 

These claims have been developing and pending for more than fifty years, and a 
favorable opportunity to bring the matter to a final cont'lusion seems never to have 
been offered in such manner as to give a proper solution. 

The report referred to by the Judge- Advocate-General relative to the submerged 
land is supposed to contain all the information required to elucidate this subject, and 
it is presumecl that all further information needed on the subject of title of these sub- 
merged lands will be found in the Judge-Advocate-General's office. 

This bill as it stands appears to cover all the essential re(iuirements to establish 
the depot required at Fort Mason, with a perfect title on the part of the Gova-nment 
to the land which has been for so long a time subject t(j adverse claims, and the 
passage of this bill is recommended. 

C. F. Humphrey, 
Quarter master- General, U. S. Army. 



Navy Department, 
Washington, Aprd £4, 1906. 
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your inquiry of the 24th, 
inclosing telegrams from Mayor Schmitz and John B. Fritschi, urging that the force 
of employees at Mare Island be increased to give employment to refugees, and asking 
for a report. 



8 EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR AT MARE ISLAND NAYY-YARD, ETC. 

I have the honor to Inform you that there is plenty of work to be done at the 
Mare It-land Navy-Y"ard, but owing to the lack of funds in the Bureau of .Steam 
Engineering all work under this Bureau at all yards is seriously hampered and the 
allotment is practically exhausted. 

After consultation with the Bureau of Steam Engineering and the other bureaus 
I find that all that is necessary to start this yard up at high pressure is a special 
appropriation by Congress which can be used at the discretion of the Secretary of 
the Navy, f<jr the purpose of employing labor only, to the extent of about $300,000. 
This would permit the employment of about 2,100 men at once, as all the other 
bureaus have money to continue tlieir work. 

I subnnt herewith a draft of a bill which, with your approval, will be transmitted 
to Congress, and if it becomes law will accomplish the result so much desired for 
the employment of a large force of workmen, and at the same time prove of great 
value to the Navy itself. 

I have the' honor to be, very respectfully, 

Tkuman H.Newberry, 

Acting Secretary. 

The President. 



A BILL Authorizinj; the Secretary of the Navy to employ additional laborers and mechanics at the 
navy yard, Mare Island, California. 

J3e it enacted by the /Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assernMed, That the SecretsiiT of the 
NaYy bo, and he is hereb}' authorized to employ such additional 
laborer.s and iiiechanics as may, in his judorment, be necessary for 
immediate service in the several departments of the nav}^ yard, Mare 
Jsland, Califoi'nia; and the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, or 
so much thereof as may be required, is hereby appropriated for such 
purpose; J'nwidcd, that such appropriation shall be additional to the 
HLims regularly appropriated for the employment of laborers and 
mechanics at the navy yard, iSIare Island, and shall be immediately 
available. 



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